


raw

by LightningRooks



Series: here we stand, worlds apart [2]
Category: Tron (Movies), Tron - All Media Types, Tron: Legacy (2010)
Genre: F/F, bo and forte continue to be gay, they might actually just become fuck buddies before they fall in love, they're both rlly attracted to each other but ideological differences y'know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-07
Updated: 2016-10-07
Packaged: 2018-08-20 02:13:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8232424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightningRooks/pseuds/LightningRooks
Summary: she really shouldn't be this turned on right now.or bo, and a program who mourns.





	

**Author's Note:**

> i didn't think i would actually finish this, but guess what? i did!

it started off as simple curiosity. like any entertainment program, forté was made to be alluring, made to draw people in. granted, it wasn’t as if she was formally coded to be a host, but she played the part quite well. at the end of the cycle, however, the bright lights and crowds did not seem to suit forté that well. 

clearly there was a difference between being good at something and being comfortable doing it. because when there were only a few programs in the music note, either when the club first opened or neared it’s closing hours, forté would play music that bo did not hear anywhere else on the grid. bo had given forté’s special pieces a name- the phantom pieces. it was if they only existed within the walls of the music note.

and as she had recently told the music program, they weren’t for mindless dancing. though music programs might have a reputation for being simple programs that only existed to provide distractions for more complex programs, bo was beginning to think differently. forté’s phantom pieces held more weight that probably any other program would give her credit for.

they were raw, full of emotion. bo was willing to bet, that under their performer’s mask, forté was the same way. 

sometimes, very rarely, bo would find herself comparing the music to the things she had seen. this cycle forté’s music was like user fire- red instead of blue. it burned, and spoke of anger and grief. bo wondered if any other programs had noticed how forté seemed to wear her code on her sleeve when she played. bo wondered if anyone cared. 

this brought bo to a sadder stream of thought. how many programs actually cared about the music note’s owner? how many would miss her if she disappeared? would anyone mourn for her, should she be derezzed? 

how many would miss bo? a simple system utility program? it wasn’t as if she got close to other programs- either they were against clu and refused to listen to bo’s reasoning, or they were mindless drones, out of fear or out of a desire for violence. this left bo alone, without many programs she felt comfortable talking to. 

couldn’t anyone see what she saw? that this grid’s creator was selfish and only cared about the isos? she certainly didn’t approve of clu’s methods, and she couldn’t care less about the perfect system, but if he could get her out of the grid, and into that beautiful world her user had let her see, well, she’d follow clu anywhere.

forté seemed hesitant to even discuss clu and the so called creator. 

(users, how she hated how everyone called flynn “the creator.” he wasn’t her creator, and probably none of the other programs either. he was a thief, stealing programs from their original users.)

forté must have had her reasons for avoiding the topic, and bo hoped it wasn’t because she was against clu. she really...had a feeling about this program. bo didn’t want to scare her away - though her first words with forté probably could have been picked better.

“there are better, less shocking ways of getting my attention, you know,” forté remarked after making her way back to the bar. bo half expected her hands to be engulfed in the same red flame that her music was. instead, all the anger, all the fire that was in her music was nowhere in forté’s words or body language.

“i wanted to cut through all the needless chatter,” bo said, amazed at how well forté could act. 

“the needless chatter is what makes this fun, sweetheart. it’s what makes it a game,” forté said, pouring herself a drink.

“a game? i don’t understand...what do you mean?” 

forté finished her shot of highly refined energy and nodded. “it’s understandable that you wouldn’t get it. most programs who are completely aligned with clu don’t. but there are many more games being played on this grid than the ones that clu holds.”

oh. so forté wasn’t loyal to clu. that was a shame. she’d really been hoping she could be friends with her. while bo did have some faith in users, she particularly didn’t care for being stolen away and then ignored and forgotten. 

“the entire grid is an arena, dear bo, and i’m surprised you haven’t noticed it. programs like us, programs with things to hide, we’re constantly playing it. dancing around each other’s truths, testing the water to see if we can trust someone else with our own...it’s just as much a game as clu’s. and maybe twice as deadly,” forté explained.

bo thought about this, about the lies she told, about the secrets she kept. not only now, under clu’s reign, but under flynn’s as well. perhaps there was some truth to what forté was saying.

“but you,” forté continued, “you just gave me your secret. without any of the chatter, without any of the intrigue. you didn’t check to make sure i was trustworthy, you just decided to give it all away. how many other programs did you tell? how many actually believed you?” 

“...the only other program i told was an iso, back before they started coming out of the sea in the droves,” bo admitted.

“and what did they say?” 

“she asked me about everything. she believed me completely, with nothing but my words to hold up my story. speaking of that- why do you believe me?”

forté leaned in, far closer than bo had expected. she had this infuriating smirk on her face. “who says i believe you?”

bo was jolted by this question. didn’t forté believe her? had she truly misjudged this program that much? she was at a loss for words.

“relax,” forté said, waving her hand dismissively. “i don’t think you’re lying about this, nor do i think you’re glitching. but you shouldn’t assume things, bo.” 

forté’s eyes hardened.

“ _ever._ ”

a shiver ran up bo’s back, racing along her circuits. the air was heavy, electrified. it was then that bo realized that music note was empty save for the two of them. she could feel the energy in her circuits pulsing faster.

bo briefly wondered if she should really be this turned on right now. 

then forté’s eyes softened and she turned around. bo felt the tension in her shoulders relax, and she let out a small sigh. 

“who do you believe in?” bo asked. “you don’t believe in clu, and you don’t seem to care for flynn all that much either.”

forté turned around, eyes misty and sad. she’d poured herself a drink, and murmured as she brought the glass to her lips, “i believed in tron once. i believed in the isos.” 

there was silence between the two programs. bo tried to find the words to say, the right question to ask- something could help her understand forté just a little bit better. but before she could, forté seemed to come back to reality and downed her drink.

“i’m going to be closing up soon. you should leave,” forté said, and bo couldn’t help but be hurt by it.

“would i be welcome here, if i wanted to come back?” bo asked, her voice a little more than a whisper.

forté only gave a noncommittal shrug. 

bo reluctantly got up and walked down the steps to the exit of the music note, and out onto the cold reality of the grid, the streets lit but devoid of true light. bo exhaled shakily, and made her way home.

**Author's Note:**

> as always, feel free to contact me on tumblr or on twitter @lightningrooks
> 
> profiles for forte and bo can be found here!  
> https://charahub.com/user/lightningrooks


End file.
